Wayne Gilchrest: “What I would like to explain to the Members that will be voting here in the next hour or so is that we have a piece of…”

“What I would like to explain to the Members that will be voting here in the next hour or so is that we have a piece of legislation that has been put together in the light of day by numerous interested parties, by the fishermen who want to catch their fair share of fish, by scientists who understand the complexity of the nature of the marine ecosystem, by elected officials in the United States that want to ensure jobs and ensure environmental quality and ensure the sovereignty of the United States. This bill has absolutely nothing to do with reneging on our environmental policies, this bill has nothing to do with violating the label so consumers understand that they are eating dolphin safe tuna. Mr. Chairman, this is a bill that puts the best of American together, to join us with 11 other nations to understand the nature of limited resources and a bulging population. This bill understands the nature of trying to get international agreement on sensitive environmental issues. This bill is a first step to understand the nature of complex environmental issues such as global warming that we will have to sit down at the table and find agreements on.”